Welcome to the tips page! I’m sure we’ve all heard some tips along the way – some are fabulous and others we could do without. Here are the ones that are fabulous!

When it comes to
couponing bigger isn’t always better!While a larger size of an item may suit your family quite often the
smaller size will go on sale and if you have a coupon for that product it will
seriously reduce your out of pocket expense!My most recent example is the purex laundry detergent.The larger jug typically retails for $6.99,
with my $3 off coupon I could have picked it up for only $3.99.It seems like a great deal for laundry
detergent until you find the smaller size on sale for only $3!Minus your coupon your total out of pocket is
the GST, the product is free!That being said, when
shopping for items that don’t typically come with coupons (such as meat) it is
wise to buy it in a warehouse package and split it up yourself. Your price per
kg will be much lower and quite often the warehouse packs go on sale.Here’s a few other
great tips!Pay with cash – you
are much less likely to throw those expensive extras in your cart if you have a
limited amount of cash with you (my alternative to that is a prepaid mastercard
that I ordered from BMO.It gives me
airmiles on my purchases and I only load it with the money that I plan to
spend)Plan your meals – not
only will you waste less because you’ll always know what’s in your refrigerator
you will be able to buy non-sale items in bulk.It’s also a huge stress reliever and much healthier option when you
always know what you’re having for dinner.Along with this goes shopping with a list!Do not enter the grocery store without
a shopping list, it will cost you a small fortuneKnow your prices – you
might think you’re getting a good deal because there’s a big bright tag on a
product. *newsflash* quite often that price is exactly the same as the
shelf tag, they only place it there to entice you.Major supercentre type stores will quite
often have items regularly priced lower than the average sale price of the
store across the streetRainchecks – if there
is a fabulous sale and the store is sold out ask the cashier for a
raincheck.This will allow you to pick
up the item for the sale price even after the sale is over (be sure to pay
close attention to expiry dates as they do expire)Sale cycles – if you are one who likes to “stock up”
how often do you do it?Typically sale
cycles will alternate every 12 weeks. If you find a hot buy get enough to last
you for 12 weeks until the item comes on sale againCoupon Crazy – just because
you have a coupon doesn’t mean you need to buy the product.If it isn’t something you normally use a
coupon isn’t going to save you any money!The expection to this is free product coupons.I recently stumbled across a coupon for a
free container of soft cat food.I don’t
have cats but the product was free so I picked it up and donated it to my local
shelterGet organized – people
waste hundreds of dollars a year re-purchasing an item they already have
because they can’t find it.If you find
that you’re drowning in clutter go check out FlyLady.She has been an incredible support to many
people who needed out from under the chaos and clutterStore Perks – take advantage
of store points cards. Even if you only shop there once a month you may as well
be getting something for your moneyRedeeming said perks –
many people redeem their points as soon as they have reached the minimum
allowable redemption level.It is an
absolute waste!If you take the time to
calculate the difference between redemption levels you will find that the more
you have to redeem the more it will be worth

MEMBER TIPS

Kym Rowe to curb impulse buys, create a 30-day list. When you want to buy something, other than a true necessity (medicine or food, for example), put it on this list, with the date you added it to the list. And make it a rule that you can’t buy anything for at least 30 days after you put it on the list. And stick to it. You’ll find that you buy a lot less with this system.

Lee-Anne Akister Meal Planning, I've done it for a decade. I've made plans for other people as well. Once you get on a roll it's easy. When I started, I kept track of how much I spent on groceries for 6mths before and 6mths after...it saved us $600/mth

Teanna Logan Never ever go without your list! It keeps you on track! Sometimes those deals just scream to be bought, try to avoid them. Watch your flyers and always compare prices and keep that on your list too! Good luck ladies :)

Alison Horne Burns So I don't overshop, I take ALL of my flyers to Walmart and do all of my shopping there that way I don't get tempted to impulse buy at other stores (trying to just pop in and out). Walmart will match my flyer prices if they haven't already and will take my coupons for other stores too. (Ex. I used a Co-Op coupon at Wallmart for buy 5 items and save $5 and I ended up getting them for free.) Thanks for accepting me into your group I'm hoping to get and give lots of helpful tips. Have a great week everyone & happy couponing :)

Angela Krause Don't go "window shopping" to waste time. It almost always ends in you buying something you don't need. Also- avoid shopping while hungry! I used to go to Costco before supper and think everything I sampled was amazing, bought too much and it went to waste:( now I can go in and have totals under $50!!

Tracey Hunt Put marinade in with your frozen meat before you freeze it. That way when you go to defrost you meat for dinner, it marinates too :) Meal planning is my other big one. I have just started to realize how much cheaper it is to meal plan. We still have some work to go on it but we are getting alot better. We have cut our grocery budget in almost half and with baby number two on its way, I am very happy. HOping to trim it a bit more

Jaimee Karmazinuk Make a list and stick to it, plan out your shop with your coupons and flyers before you go .And don' t buy things just because you have a coupon for it LOL

Jaimee Reese I keep my coupons in a mini-accordian file in my purse, so I always have them with me if I see a good price on something I have a coupon for, and they are organized into categories so they are easy to find. And I've recently starting trying to meal plan more, and it saves a lot of money on groceries!

Teusdae Johnston meal planning. making a list when you go shopping and only taking enough CASH for what you need to get

Natalie Ennis-Yaskowich Creating a price book has been a huge help to me. Now I know what is a good deal, what isn't, and when I can expect my favorite products to go on sale again :)

Sheila Opp Schulz Only *one* favourite? :-) I stock up on bell peppers, strawberries & other berries, and mangos, when they're on sale, chop them up and freeze them. None of them need blanching before freezing. I also stock up on cheddar and mozza when on sale, grate them up and freeze them to use on nachos, homemade pizza, etc.

Jen Herle I collect as many different coupons as I can for one specific product that we use on a regular basis (coupon trains are great for this) and stack them to get free groceries at either save on foods or London drugs....I have saved us lots of money doing this, and have quite the stockpile at home now :)

Alison Horne Burns I freeze All types of cheese for future use. Cheese blocks, sticks, shredded & slices. Work's great here and can stock up when it's on sale. Great tip!! (Wish I would have thought of it myself...LOL)

Lisa Van Horne Linderman A thing I do is buy food when it is marked down because it expires soon, we either eat it for supper that night or freeze it. Like at no frills I get meat marked 30% or 50% off and bread for 50% off. Then at shopper's they mark down all their lunch meats, cheese,etc. I freeze everything anyways cause we live out of town. Also the least amount of times you go to the grocery store will save you from buying those extras!

Jackie Cooper I keep a small roll of tape in my purse, and at the store, I tape my coupon on the item, right over the bar code. Then I don't have to remember to find them at the till, and the cashier is less likely to miss them either. Also, another suggestion - prescription costs vary greatly from one pharmacy to another. For instance, my epi-pen would have been $130 at my usual drug store, but was ~$95 at Costco. Also, even if you aren't a costco member, you can fill prescriptions and buy vitamins there.

Jacquelin Sayles going with the comments on cheese and freezing it, and the meat that has been discounted, amd taking it home and freezing it, you can also do that with yogurt, and yogurt tubes, etc. My kids love it!! And its way healthier than a popsicle. And no frills also takes a percentage off there yogurts etc when they are about to expire.

Sonja Dziadek Find someone you know that has home grown beef. It's around $700 to get one cut and wrapped. I get half a cow which means we pay $350. It's a years worth of beef, from steaks to roasts to stew meat & hamburger for a family of 4.. And we supply meat for friends for our BBQ's too..